Last month, Michiganders dealt with severe flooding that affected 19 counties and two major cities. Besides causing millions in damages, the area flooding demonstrated a need to upgrade local storm water maintenance systems.

Frequent extreme weather and record flooding are some of the ways we're feeling the impacts of climate change. We're not helpless to stop the effects of climate change, however.

Today we have a chance to get on a better path to sustainability that can better the economy also. While necessary upgrades require significant investments, cleaning up the wreckage after severe storms on a case-by-case basis, such as recently in western Michigan, is significantly more costly in the long run.

One way we can solve the dual dilemmas of climate change and needing to upgrade our infrastructure is by investing in our roads and bridges, wastewater, transit, and communications systems in a way that protects valuable natural resources and ensures a healthier and more efficient future for communities.

Investments in our infrastructure can yield tremendous benefits, including jobs, economic growth and expanded demand in our domestic steel sector. Combine that with smart policies that regulate the emissions of carbon pollution from power plants and promote energy efficiency, and we can have a better economy and a better environment.

It's a vision that we should get back to and that can drive economic growth and create a path to a better environment.